When I was a kid getting your driver’s license was a rite of passage. It meant freedom to go where you wanted, when you wanted without needing to rely on your parents or older sibling to take you someplace.

Every friend I had was counting the days until they could apply for their learner’s permit, take the driving exam and hit the open road on their own. But as times change so do the ways we live in them. This might account for the sudden surge not in new drivers, but in the number of teenagers who choose not get a driver’s license at all.

That’s right, a new study released by the Arizona Public Interest Research Group the average number of miles driven by people younger than 35 fell by almost 25 percent. Data kept by the Arizona Department of Transportation shows that since 2008, while the population of teenagers grew, the number with driver’s licenses actually got smaller.

Most of these young people are choosing to walk or ride their bikes, well into their college years. Where light rail and public transportation is available they are using that. In essence, they are eschewing getting a driver’s license because they don’t want the added expense of owning a car; facing high fuel prices at the pumps and the high costs of maintaining their automobiles.

If this trend continues into adulthood for these teens the incidence of highway congestion and vehicle crashes will naturally decline, but also, the U.S. auto industry could be facing a major problem.

Arizona Department of Transportation is cautioning drivers and web surfers that fake ADOT web sites are starting to create a serious hazard for them.

The ADOT does not maintain the Internet Super Highway, but it does monitor what transpires online and how it might impact Arizona. Their most recent warning is aimed at anyone who might want to make of the Arizona Department of Transportation web site. The Arizona Motor Vehicle Division is the only web site which can officially authorize motor vehicle services such as registration renewals, specialty license plates or a duplicate driver’s license. In fact, although some bogus web sites offer to help drivers renew their driver’s license or get a driver’s license, all of that work must be done in-person at an authorized Arizona Motor Vehicle Division office or authorized third-party site.

These ADOT warnings came about last week when it was discovered that some fake web sites had started collecting people’s driver license information, credit card information and other payments in order to complete an assortment of registration functions. Drivers who unwittingly supplied their personal information or paid for these services received nothing in return and left themselves open to further cyber attack and personal identity theft.

If you have need of driver’s license or vehicle registration services from the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division, be certain you are visiting the correct web site, or, do your business with them in person. Using the Internet is a great way to save some time, especially if you work during the same times that the local offices are open, but you need to take precautions. If you are unsure which site is the right it only takes a minute to call the local office and confirm you are at the right site before committing any of your personal information.

This week Arizona lawmakers were unable to pass a new bill banning texting and driving.

This is not the first time an effort to ban texting and driving in Arizona has failed to make it through the legislature. In fact, lawmakers have tried several times in the past few years to get bills written which would convince the detractors who feel the issue is not worth a statewide ban to vote in favor of it.

This time supporters of the bill felt emboldened by a National Transportation Safety Board report and recommendation this past December which presented evidence they said showed distracted driving was the leading cause of vehicle crashes in the United States. The NTSB called for all states to enact bans on texting and driving, and even a compete on the use of handheld devices by anyone operating a vehicle.

Although a total statewide ban on texting and driving failed, there is measure getting some positive attention. The Senate has approved a bill which would effectively ban anyone with a learner’s driving permit, or anyone who has had their driving license for six months or less from using any handheld device for any reason while driving.

Arizona remains one of just 15 states which have so far resisted efforts to enact statewide texting and driving bans. Despite mounting evidence showing that distracted driving, often caused by the use of handheld and even hands-free devices, is now responsible for more vehicles crashes than drugs or alcohol, some lawmakers feel these decisions are best left to municipalities rather than state legislators. As an example, Texas lawmakers have avoided a statewide ban, but cities such as Dallas and Houston have some of the strictest rules against handheld devices in the nation.

For now, Arizona state lawmakers will rely on some limitations for inexperienced drivers, defensive drivers and local municipalities to police the number of distracted drivers and hope for the best.

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net